Whiffletree-hook.



A. F. GROSBY.-

WHIFPLETREE HOOK. APPLICATION PILEDAPR. 13, 190-1. nnnwnn I0V.3,1908.I

Patented Jan. 5, 1909.

INYENTOH, Asher Cmsb A TTORNE Y ASHER F. CROSBY, OF TOWNERS, NEW YORK.

WHIFFLETREE-HOOK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 5, 1909.

Application filed April 13, 1907, Serial No. 367,996. Renewed November3, 1908. Serial No. 460,905.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Asnnn F. CROSBY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Towners, in the county of Putnam and State of New York, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Whiflletree-Hooks, of which thefollowing is a specification.

'lhis invention relates to whiffletree hooks or similar devices forengaging the trace where it is attached to the whifiietree to retain itin place and consists of certain new and novel constructions which willbe more fully explained in the following specification set forth in theclaims and illustrated in the drawings where like reference charactersare used to designate the same parts in the various figures.

Fi ure 1 is a plan view of the end of a whi etree showing my improvedhook a plied thereto. Fig. 2 is a side view of t e same. Fig. 3 is abottom view of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a bottom view of a modified form ofhook. Fig. 5 is a plan view of same. Fig. 6 is a side elevation.

The device is made of wire and adapted to spring or be fitted upon theend of the whiffletree as shown and is composed of two lateral clampingloops or U-shaped jaws 10 each of whic passes around the side of thewhiffletree to its under side and the wire of which these arts is madeis formed with springs 11 to be ocated on the upper side of thewhiffletree and project forward into the arm 12 which terminates in thehook 13. These s rings permit the arm to be raised for app ying orremoving the trace and also permit the jaws to be spread for grippingthe device on the whiflletree. When the jaws are spread, the springs arecompressed so that t e tendency of the springs to expand will cause thejaws to firm bite on the whiflletree. It will be seen t at thisconstruction employs but one piece of wire and these various hooks,loops and springs are formed therefrom and the ends are joined in a knotor 'oint 14 located on the under side of the whiffletree. The hook 13 isin this construction provided with two springs, the arm itself and thecoils 11 which firmly retain it in its place against the side of thewhiffletree and prevent its release.

The modified form of the hook dispenses with the two gripping loops andemploys a single loop which envelopes the end of the whiffletree and isretained thereon by the springing action of the arms 15 which arenormally spread apart but when placed on the whiffletree and forcedthereon as far as possible the gap between the arms closed and theresilient action firmly holds the hook u on the whiffletree. Thisconstruction is o a single iece of wire also and the ends are united att e 'oint 16 while the coils 17 at the inner ends 0 the arms serve toretain the hook 18 in its place to control the end of the trace.

The construction rovides a very simple and chea hook for astening atrace in its place an the springing action of its various parts enablesit to perform its work and be firmly held in its place without danger ofloss and it is obvious that various modifications in the arrangement ofconstruction of certain details may be resorted to without departingfrom the essential features above described.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A trace fastener or whiffletree hook comprising a single length ofwire doubled on itself to form an arm composed of two portions, theextremity of the arm being bent downward at right angles, a helicalspring at the inner end of each member forming the arm, the extremitiesof the wire being bent to cross each other adjacent the spring andarranged to extend over the top of a whiflletree and formed intowhifiletree-engaging members adapted to extend in opposite directionsaround the whiffletree, the terminals of the wire being looped one onthe other.

2. A trace fastener comprising a single piece of wire doubled on itselfand bent into a hook shaped arm, helical springs at the inner ends ofthe members forming the arm and arranged with their axes coinciding, theextremities of the wire being bent into oppositely disposed U-shapedjaws in the form of hooks and the terminals of the wire being fastenedtogether.

3. A trace fastener comprising a single piece of wire doubled on itselfto form an arm, the extremity of which is bent to one side to constitutea hook, helical springs at the inner ends of the members that form thearm and extending outwardly from each and arranged to permit the arm tobe raised, the extremities of the Wire being bent oppositely from theouter ends of the springs and formed into jaws capable of spreadingapart by the compression of the springs for gripping a Whifiietree.

ASHER F. CROSBY.

Witnesses JAMES E. TowNER, Jr., JOHN TOWNER.

